My Thermos

I've written in the past about how much I love my Sirius Radio, and have really been a supporter of the merger between them and XM.

So this morning I got an email announcing the new Sirius Radio channel lineup only to discover that The Vault is now Deep Classic Rock.

I'm not usually a pessimistic person by nature but I sort of freaked out a bit at this. I would say that 50% of my listening time is on The Vault and the thought of them changing things around too much is scary.

I haven't been out to the car yet so I really don't know what this means. The new name still pretty accurately describes the content from The Vault, so it doesn't necessarily mean any programming change. And who knows, maybe they'll even improve it. I'd love for them to go even deeper. I've yet to hear 10cc "Feel The Benefit" (parts 1 & 2 and 3) which is sort of my barometer for just how good a station can be.

It's time to go to work so I guess I'll find out soon. Wish me luck!

SB

Today I thought I would move away from the fluff for a bit and discuss something Sirius.

Sirius - get it? clever huh?

Ok - maybe not. But don't let my pathetic attempts at humor diminish the wonderful entertainment goodness that is Sirius Satellite Radio, the next in my series of things for which I am thankful.

I always need to have music playing. Easy enough to keep the good tunes rolling at home and work, the internet and my CDs keep me entertained there.

In the car though, it has always been a challenge. I don't like to bring my CDs in the car (heat and such) so I tend to rely on the radio.

For a major market, the radio in Chicago is just horrendous though. The proliferation of Infinity and Clear Channel in the market has made it unbearable really. WCKG is talk, The Loop is all Aerosmith, and while WXRT plays an occasional good song in between their hourly REM and U2, they really are few and far between (they haven't been the same since they got rid of their daily featured artist cards)

Besides I'm not really a traditional radio kind of guy, my favorite songs tend not to be the hits or standard radio fare. I tend to change channels a lot looking for something that doesn't suck, getting more and more frustrated.

So enter Sirius Satellite Radio. My wonderful wife bought me the radio and subscription a couple of years back and it really ranks up there as one of the gifts that I enjoy most.

Offering a boatload of stations, there really is a lot of choice available. I tend to listen mostly to either the Jam On station or The Vault. A good mix of Classic Vinyl, BuzzSaw, Blues and Howard tend to fill up the rest of the time.

The coolest thing though is a feature of the radio I have. It has the option for me to preset 30 artists (or songs) and then it notifies me when a song by any of those artists is playing on any station on the dial. A subtle beep and I am pretty much guaranteed to find something that I like.

Wide musical selection, a ton of channels, good news coverage, and Howard in the mornings really makes my time in the car much more enjoyable. I don't work that far from home any longer but I do drive to client sites and run errands routinely so it really does make a difference.

I love my Sirius Radio. I really can't recall the last time I listened to terrestrial radio.

SB

(FYI - this isn't a sponsored post or an ad. There are no affiliate links embedded. Sirius Radio is just such a cool thing that I wanted to include it in my list)

I was quite pleased to hear my beloved Sirius Jam On station play something other than the Grateful Dead this morning. For those not in the know, they have been previewing an upcoming all Dead channel for the last 9 days.

I think it is cool that they are getting their own channel and all , there is certainly enough material to keep it interesting. Not that I dislike The Dead, but 9 straight days goes a very long way, and to take away Jam On for the preview was just cruel.

But things appear to be back to normal now and all is right with the world again.

It would be better if they would play less phuckin' phish - but that is the topic for another day....

SB